Motoring along.....one lump or two?

[the lemming]

While checking out EQ mounts I've noticed that you can get motors for them. The bit that confuses me is that you can get one or two motors for the mount.

Could somebody please explain why there are two options and what they would be used for?

I appreciate that they track the sky but I don't know why there are two options to choose from.

Cheers

[Astro_Baby]

One motor for motion in RA (which is the direction the scope takes when its tracking to follow stars)

One motorn for DEC (which is the up/down motion which you may need to tweak when you watching a target and the mount may not be precisely polar aligned.

Generally its not much dearer to get two so most people do that but you really only need one for tracking.

[the lemming]

Just read your review of the 200P and HEQ5 mount and was pleased to read that you were very impressed by the telescope. However I would like to pick your brains on the EQ mount.

having never used a tripod more complex than the one I use for photography, is there a big learning curve in using an EQ mount?

Would my apprenticeship be better spent buying my first telescope with a Dobson mount rather than jumping in at the deep end with an EQ mount?

Cheers

[Astro_Baby]

OO-err - I know I am often at odds with many on this topic.

The short answer is there is a learning curve with an EQ mount but to be honest there will be a learning curve whatever you buy.

I assume we are talking non-GoTo. Without GoTo the Dob would be easiest by far. With GoTo the DOB might still be easier. I havent ever used a GoTo Dob so I cant say.

What I would say is that IF GoTO Dobs had been around when I bought the EQ then I would have gone the Auto Dob route. They werent so I went with what I knew which was an EQ mount.

There is a learning curve with an EQ mount and they do have the capacity to flummox beginners though they really arent that hard. If you have any aim to do astro imaging I would sy take the pain now and learn an EQ mount because you'll have to anyway sooner or later if imaging is a thing you want to do.

The biggest pain with an EQ is the weight and set-up time I think and I have of late started to wonder if a GoTo Dob might not be a better thing for me but the block on that is the EQ mount can be used for all manner of other scopes I own (and hope to own ).

Its a tough question and I am not sure I could give you a sensible answer.

My reasons for having an EQ mount were

1/ I hate nudging scopes and when I bought auto tracking and/or GoTo Dobs weren't on the radar.

2/ I used to have an EQ mount and liked the idea of at least tracking if not going with GoTo

3/ It was always my intention to own more than a single scope and an EQ mount would allow me to mount any other scopes in the future

Initially I didndt buy GoTo because my feeling was I could relearn the sky (you never forget it right) - in fact wrong - a lot of what I used to know has gone and I started to find that between dreadful UK weather and other commitments I was averaging one night a month - its noty enough to learn the sky with any great depth.

The other headache was handling an 8" newt on an EQ mount in full manual mode was a nightmare - its big, bulky, the locks on the mount are always where you dont want them to be.

I bought GoTo more to get a fast slew speed so I could at least guide the scope manually via its moros rather than learn yoga which was the other option. In the event GoTo proved itself indispensable and I saw more on the firts night with GoTo than in the preceeding 6-9 months.

Anyway thats my own experience.

[the lemming]

Out of curiosity I had a quick look at the spec weights for a 200P dob and 200P EQ5 and was shocked to find how heavy the EQ+telescope was.

Putting the cost aside, I have now made my choice on weight alone. Dob wins.

Just got to decide who gets my pennies now.

Thank you very much for all you help over the last few days in helping with my many weird and wonderful questions.

Cheers

[Astro_Baby]

Yes - well an EQ mount with something like a 200 will almost always have two 5kg weights, the mount is probably around 13kg and then there are the tripod legs at probably 5-7kg so its a hefty weight.

Word to the wise here - when you buy a bigger dob in the future check the weight. LOts of manufacturers give out the line of 'its portable - all comes to bits you see so you can put it in the car'

I almost bought a big dob last year that was going cheap - then I asked what the weight was. The mirror box on it was 62lbs

Last week I tried to pick an identical scope up - it was so heavy I would have sworn it was bolted to the floor.